Windows Server 2012 Essentials announcements

The Update Rollup 3 for Windows Server 2012 Essentials is now available for download from Windows Update. You can read about the issues this rollup update addresses in Microsoft Support Knowledgebase http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2862551.

If you had the previous version of the integration module installed, you must retrieve your stored data before May 4. Then you need to uninstall the previous integration module and the Windows Azure Online Backup agent, before trying the new version.

Data from the earlier preview will be available until May 4, 2013. It will not be transferred to the new Windows Azure Backup preview. Please make sure to retrieve any data that you wish to retrieve before uninstalling the old integration module.

File Services and Storage announcements

Microsoft released a new white paper, available here, discussing best practices and guidance for sizing NTFS volumes and some details on CHKDSK execution times on Windows Server 2008 R2. When planning Windows Server deployments, we are often asked questions such as “How large can I make my volumes?” or “How long will it take to repair a volume?”. This white paper helps answer these questions.

Hyper-V announcements

Thank you for posting in TechNet forum. The online problem solving can be relatively time consuming because it may demand several messages back and force to fully understand the symptom and background, especially at the very beginning. Here are a few suggestions that help you get the best answer to your question as quickly as possible.

When You Ask

1. Selecting a good title which summarizes the specific problem you have. It will be the one of the main driving forces for others to want to actually read your item. Choosing a badly-formatted title will drive people away, thinking that since the title is so badly written, so must be the information and the question within the thread.

2. Provide all the necessary information in your initial post. The following information would be very helpful:

- Symptom description: Detailed description of the problem. If you receive any error messages, please let us know the exact error WORD BY WORD.

- Any recent relevant configuration change(s): If the issue started to occur after installing any application/updates or changing the configuration, please let us know.

- Any additional information. Tell what you have done prior to asking your question. This will help us understand that you've done so far.

3. Write in a clear language. Avoiding spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. Don't type IN ALL CAPS, which in most cases is read as shouting and considered rude.

4. Keep with the same thread. Do not refer to a post you made last year, and above all, Please come back. There are hundreds and thousands of posts where we have seen people given great and wonderfully long answers yet no reply from the original poster.

5. Be courteous to reply, even if it's to say. "I've given up" or thanks that worked. (This helps the whole community when you do this, and makes the people who donate time, warm and fuzzies.)

When answered

Give Positive Feedback. Once you've received a correct answer to your question, either from a Microsoft employee, an MVP, or the community in general, pleases replies that the issue or question has been answered. And if possible mark the solution as answered: This step is important, since it lets other people benefit from your posts.

"Network Access Protection (NAP) is deprecated. Other options for keeping client computers up to date and secure for remote access include DirectAccess, Windows Web Application Proxy, and various non-Microsoft solutions."

Setup Deployment announcements

On 7/8/2008, a security patch was released for DNS by Microsoft and other DNS server vendors. The Microsoft patch was tracked as KB953230 - the documentation on it is here.

As part of the patch, DNS now reserves 2500 UDP ports - including the ports from 64000 to 65000 that WDS uses by default. Because of this, if DNS and WDS are running on the same server, WDS cannot access those ports and so is unable to perform TFTP (required for PXE boot) or Multicast.

To work around this, open the WDS MMC, select your server, and go to Server Properties from the right-click menu or the Action menu. Then on the Network Settings page, set a different range of UDP ports. The best range to choose will depend on what else you are running on your server - you want to pick ports that other server roles and applications are not using. The dynamically allocated ports start from 49152, so your Start port should be at least that.

Quite often, some users will be provided with a solution, yet won't mark the thread as answered. The moderators of this forum will try to review almost every thread/answer, and may prematurely mark a thread as answered, when it isn't. In cases like those, the original poster can feel free to unmark the thread as answered.

We've created a solution table on our blog for some issues we've seen while troubleshooting Vista backup\recovery (including System Restore) issues with some customers. We encourage you to visit the blog and see if it addresses your issue.

Windows Backup forums provide you an opportunity to join a community of Windows customers where you can share knowledge on windows backup, get questions answered, and learn from others with backup needs similar to yours. Start by posting Windows Backup related questions and leverage the knowledge available in your new forum community.

The Streaming Media Services forum provides you an opportunity to join a community of Windows Media server customers where you can share knowledge, get questions answered, and learn from others with IT environments similar to yours. Start by posting Windows Media Services related questions in the forum corresponding to your topic of interest and leverage the knowledge available in the new forum community.

If you have any questions or feedback about Windows Media Services 2008 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, or about Windows Media Services 9 Series for Windows Server 2003, please feel free to post them in this forum.

Windows Multipoint Server announcements

If you are running into an issue where the WMS
Dashboard is in an unusable state the security certificate might be expired which the Dashboard needs to
connect to the webservice on the Server. Please use the following steps
to identify if you are running into the same issue and apply the solution
provided in this article:

We have created a Channel 9 video, which provides an overview of the Windows Server 2012 Logo Program, in order for ISVs to quickly gain an overview of the Windows Server 2012 Logo Program. The video can be viewed at the following URL, and any questions can be directed to this TechNet Forum or to our support email WSLogoFB@Microsoft.com.

Windows PowerShell scripts have been uploaded to the Microsoft Script Center for integration of your current DHCP lease database with IPAM.

By default, IPAM imports DHCP scopes from managed DHCP servers as IP address ranges. However, individual leases and reservations are not automatically imported as IP addresses. To import these, and to configure a periodic import task, see the following links:

Windows Server 2012 Essentials announcements

The Update Rollup 3 for Windows Server 2012 Essentials is now available for download from Windows Update. You can read about the issues this rollup update addresses in Microsoft Support Knowledgebase http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2862551.

If you had the previous version of the integration module installed, you must retrieve your stored data before May 4. Then you need to uninstall the previous integration module and the Windows Azure Online Backup agent, before trying the new version.

Data from the earlier preview will be available until May 4, 2013. It will not be transferred to the new Windows Azure Backup preview. Please make sure to retrieve any data that you wish to retrieve before uninstalling the old integration module.

File Services and Storage announcements

Microsoft released a new white paper, available here, discussing best practices and guidance for sizing NTFS volumes and some details on CHKDSK execution times on Windows Server 2008 R2. When planning Windows Server deployments, we are often asked questions such as “How large can I make my volumes?” or “How long will it take to repair a volume?”. This white paper helps answer these questions.

Hyper-V announcements

Thank you for posting in TechNet forum. The online problem solving can be relatively time consuming because it may demand several messages back and force to fully understand the symptom and background, especially at the very beginning. Here are a few suggestions that help you get the best answer to your question as quickly as possible.

When You Ask

1. Selecting a good title which summarizes the specific problem you have. It will be the one of the main driving forces for others to want to actually read your item. Choosing a badly-formatted title will drive people away, thinking that since the title is so badly written, so must be the information and the question within the thread.

2. Provide all the necessary information in your initial post. The following information would be very helpful:

- Symptom description: Detailed description of the problem. If you receive any error messages, please let us know the exact error WORD BY WORD.

- Any recent relevant configuration change(s): If the issue started to occur after installing any application/updates or changing the configuration, please let us know.

- Any additional information. Tell what you have done prior to asking your question. This will help us understand that you've done so far.

3. Write in a clear language. Avoiding spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. Don't type IN ALL CAPS, which in most cases is read as shouting and considered rude.

4. Keep with the same thread. Do not refer to a post you made last year, and above all, Please come back. There are hundreds and thousands of posts where we have seen people given great and wonderfully long answers yet no reply from the original poster.

5. Be courteous to reply, even if it's to say. "I've given up" or thanks that worked. (This helps the whole community when you do this, and makes the people who donate time, warm and fuzzies.)

When answered

Give Positive Feedback. Once you've received a correct answer to your question, either from a Microsoft employee, an MVP, or the community in general, pleases replies that the issue or question has been answered. And if possible mark the solution as answered: This step is important, since it lets other people benefit from your posts.

"Network Access Protection (NAP) is deprecated. Other options for keeping client computers up to date and secure for remote access include DirectAccess, Windows Web Application Proxy, and various non-Microsoft solutions."

Setup Deployment announcements

On 7/8/2008, a security patch was released for DNS by Microsoft and other DNS server vendors. The Microsoft patch was tracked as KB953230 - the documentation on it is here.

As part of the patch, DNS now reserves 2500 UDP ports - including the ports from 64000 to 65000 that WDS uses by default. Because of this, if DNS and WDS are running on the same server, WDS cannot access those ports and so is unable to perform TFTP (required for PXE boot) or Multicast.

To work around this, open the WDS MMC, select your server, and go to Server Properties from the right-click menu or the Action menu. Then on the Network Settings page, set a different range of UDP ports. The best range to choose will depend on what else you are running on your server - you want to pick ports that other server roles and applications are not using. The dynamically allocated ports start from 49152, so your Start port should be at least that.

Quite often, some users will be provided with a solution, yet won't mark the thread as answered. The moderators of this forum will try to review almost every thread/answer, and may prematurely mark a thread as answered, when it isn't. In cases like those, the original poster can feel free to unmark the thread as answered.

We've created a solution table on our blog for some issues we've seen while troubleshooting Vista backup\recovery (including System Restore) issues with some customers. We encourage you to visit the blog and see if it addresses your issue.

Windows Backup forums provide you an opportunity to join a community of Windows customers where you can share knowledge on windows backup, get questions answered, and learn from others with backup needs similar to yours. Start by posting Windows Backup related questions and leverage the knowledge available in your new forum community.

The Streaming Media Services forum provides you an opportunity to join a community of Windows Media server customers where you can share knowledge, get questions answered, and learn from others with IT environments similar to yours. Start by posting Windows Media Services related questions in the forum corresponding to your topic of interest and leverage the knowledge available in the new forum community.

If you have any questions or feedback about Windows Media Services 2008 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, or about Windows Media Services 9 Series for Windows Server 2003, please feel free to post them in this forum.

Windows Multipoint Server announcements

If you are running into an issue where the WMS
Dashboard is in an unusable state the security certificate might be expired which the Dashboard needs to
connect to the webservice on the Server. Please use the following steps
to identify if you are running into the same issue and apply the solution
provided in this article:

We have created a Channel 9 video, which provides an overview of the Windows Server 2012 Logo Program, in order for ISVs to quickly gain an overview of the Windows Server 2012 Logo Program. The video can be viewed at the following URL, and any questions can be directed to this TechNet Forum or to our support email WSLogoFB@Microsoft.com.

Windows PowerShell scripts have been uploaded to the Microsoft Script Center for integration of your current DHCP lease database with IPAM.

By default, IPAM imports DHCP scopes from managed DHCP servers as IP address ranges. However, individual leases and reservations are not automatically imported as IP addresses. To import these, and to configure a periodic import task, see the following links: